Question about hens and egg hatching?

[TxChiknRanchers]

If you leave eggs under a hen and they are fertile will she stay with them until they hatch? Is it automatic / instictive(sp), or is it hit and miss?

More Questions than answers

Is this when you candle them to see if they are developing?

Probably more questions to come

 

[sara]

It is instictive, but you can't predict when they will go broody. I have two silkie hens, which I thought weren't laying, my DH just found like 3/4 of a dozen eggs the other day. I decided that I would go throw them out since I didn't know how long they were there. Low and behold I go out and the hen is sitting on them now. She picked the dumbest spot out in the pasture. I hate to move her, yet I'm worried about her. She just sits there in a trance. Silly bird.

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

Aaaaaaaaaa. so thats what they mean " going broody" the hen decides to sit the eggs she has laid. But even if you leave her eggs alone there is no hard fast rule she will " incubate" them right?

 

[sara]

That is correct, a lot of your standard size chickens never go broody, they produce them for egg production so they loose some of the other traits such as going broody.

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

Thank you soooo much. So if eggs stay a while? and no sitting mamma just punt and pick em up? how long is too long in warm summer weather?

and i'll give it a rest for a while once again thank you sara

 

[speckledhen]

What most people do is collect the eggs they want to hatch and store them in a cool place for no more than two weeks. If a hen goes broody, then you can give them to her. In the meantime, to encourage one to go broody, put a bunch of fake eggs in a nest and just wait. If no one goes broody, if you've stored the eggs properly, between 45-65 degrees, they should still be good to eat. Just pop them in the fridge.

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

Thanks speckledhen, Remember the hen and chicks when i was a young'un but did not know the "procedure". Raising some BO's and EAster eggers now and learning again.

More questions than answers right now

 

[Davaroo]

Broodies are why I took up incubating. I think chickens should be managed, not left to run amok as "free spirits." Admittedly, I am not much of an arboreal embracer type.

The problem with broodies from a management standpoint is that they are not on any sort of schedule that you can control. Unless you have a flock of many to choose from, you may not have what you need when you need it.

Also, hens are clumsy footed oafs, wander off at the wrong times, do stupid things like eat eggs and so on. I used to have a hen that never went UNBROODY - as long as I had her she was in the nest more than out. Ive had others that don't even know the meaning of the word. Somewhere in between were the dumb ones who had to horn in on broody and join her in the nest rather than doing it for themselves.

Someone always says at this point that broodies are the "natural way" and therefore are superior. Balderdash! If enough in any group are broody hens, then you will get some results, sure. But, Mother Nature produces and hatches so many chicks because there is safety in numbers, not because she knows what she is doing.

Let the broody do her thing. That's good and neat to observe; it gives you that "in touch" feeling we hear about so much. But if you want some control and results you can rely on, learn to incubate.

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

Thanks elderoo,

Some good points, have seen some of the things that they do to make it hard for themselves, (poo in the water and wandering so far away that they have trouble coming home and are in danger and not knowing it etc. and can understand the incubation thing.

Always appreciate the info I get here on this site!


PS also would vote for Ted

 

[rooster-red]

elderoo
Love that avatar!